2015 Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award presented by Golf Pride Grips Announced

SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – The GCAA in conjunction with Golf Pride Grips today announced the six outstanding collegiate golf coaches receiving the Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award presented by Golf Pride Grips. Golf Pride Grips will present the coaches with their awards during the Hall of Fame Banquet at the GCAA National Convention on December 7.
Mike Small of Illinois (Division I), Ryan Jamison of Nova Southeastern (Division II), Steve Conley of Methodist (Division III), Mike Cook of Coastal Georgia (NAIA), Jamie Howell of Eastern Florida State (NJCAA Division I) and Andy Walker of South Mountain (NJCAA Division II) earned coach of the year honors for 2015. Golf Pride Grips Region and District Coaches of the Year were also named.
In his 15th year at the helm of the Illinois Men’s Golf program, Small led the team to its eighth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and third-straight NCAA Regional victory. The Illini won a school-record eight tournament titles during the 2014-15 season, and Small guided each one of his top five players to one or more individual titles. The Illini tallied eight individual wins this season. Small was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, the seventh time in his career that he has earned conference coach of the year honors. His squad swept each of the individual honors for the second time under his direction, as junior Thomas Detry was named Big Ten Player of the Year and freshman Nick Hardy earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year recognition. Small’s entire starting five earned All-Big Ten recognition this season as well.
Jamison’s Sharks had a nearly unprecedented run in 2014-15, ranking first throughout the season in the Golfstat Relative Rankings, and for each of the last seven weeks in the Bushnell Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll. They won five regular season events, including four of five in the spring, before taking the title at both the NCAA South/Southeast Super Regional and NCAA Championships. Then, during Medal/Match Play at the National Championships, they took out No. 5 Chico State, No. 11 Central Missouri (in a 5-0 shutout), and No. 3 Lynn in the final match, 3-2. The Sharks featured Division II Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year Award presented by Barbasol winnwe Santiago Gomez and Richard Mansell, both honored as PING First Team All-America and Sunshine State Conference First Team members. Jamison was voted Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year for the second time, while Gomez was named SSC Men’s Golfer of the Year. In addition, four members were named to the DII PING All-South Region team.
Conley recently completed his 28th campaign as head coach at Methodist. This past season he directed the Monarchs to their 11th NCAA Division III national championship in the last 23 years. Conley has been named Coach of the Year in both Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the USA South Athletic Conference 18 times, NCAA Division III Region III Coach of the Year 15 times, and a Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award recipient six times. He has produced nine individual national champions, 45 PING All-Americans and 11 Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars.
Cook was named Dave Williams Award recipient for the second-straight year after leading Coastal Georgia to back-to-back NAIA Championships. The Mariners led the NAIA Championships wire-to-wire and ultimately winning by 11 shots. Cook led his squad to eight wins in 10 tournaments during 2014-15. Coastal Georgia’s three seniors were named PING First-Team All-America selections.
Howell completed his 13th season with the Titans. This season he mentored Jack Nicklaus Award presentedy by Barbasol recipient Kerry Sweeney. In previous seasons Howell has chalked up 35 tournament wins and coached 16 All-Americans with two players, who won NJCAA individual national titles. He was District Coach of the Year in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2015. The Titans have won five NJCAA District 4 championships and reached the NJCAA National Tournament in all 13 of Howell’s seasons, including a program best second-place finish in 2015.
Walker led South Mountain to a 15-shot victory at the NJCAA Division II Championships. South Mountain captured the team title in 11 of the 12 events they played this season. Three Cougar golfers earned medalist honors seven times in 2014-15 and were awarded PING All-America honors. John Souza was awarded with the Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshmen Award presented by the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation and Connor Klein earned the Arnold Palmer Award. Walker was previously named ACCAC and Golf Pride Grips Region Coach of the Year and NJCAA Coach of the Tournament.
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Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award Presented by Golf Pride Grips
Division I - Mike Small, IllinoisDivision II - Ryan Jamison, Nova SoutheasternDivision III - Steve Conley, MethodistNAIA - Mike Cook, Coastal GeorgiaNJCAA Division I - Jamie Howell, Eastern Florida StateNJCAA Division II - Andy Walker, South Mountain
Golf Pride Grips Region and District Coaches of the Year
Division INortheast - Brian Watts, ArmyEast - Bruce Heppler, Georgia TechSoutheast - Chuck Winstead, LSUMidwest - Mike Small, IllinoisCentral - John Fields, TexasWest - Chris Zambri, Southern California
Division IIEast - Harry Jennings, WilmingtonAtlantic - Frederick Joseph, IUPSoutheast - Mike Carlisle, USC AikenSouth - Ryan Jamison, Nova SoutheasternMidwest - Troy Halterman, UMSLCentral - Tim Poe, Central MissouriSouth Central - Jerry Hrnciar, CameronWest - John Buchanan, Simon Fraser
Division IIINortheast - Myles Nolan, RPIMid-Atlantic - Andy Tompos, Franklin & MarshallSoutheast - Lee Richter, LaGrangeGreat Lakes - Jeff Roope, WittenbergCentral - Jim Ott, Illinois WesleyanWest - Butch Edge, Redlands
NAIANorth - Barry Doty, William WoodsSouth - Mike Cook, Coastal GeorgiaCentral - Bobby Cornett, Texas WesleyanWest - Greg Hutton, CSU San Marcos
NJCAA Division IDistrict I - Rich Holden, Trinidad StateDistrict II - Paul Chavez, OdessaDistrict III - Mike Hagen, Indian HillsDistrict IV - Jamie Howell, Eastern Florida State
NJCAA Division IIEast - Gary Hilton, Darton StateCentral - Tommy Snell, Mississippi Gulf CoastWest - Sandy Terry, Tyler

DUBLIN, Ohio – Maverick McNealy of Stanford, Nova Southeastern’s Santiago Gomez, Anthony Maccaglia of Oglethorpe, Dalton State’s Sean Elliott and Eastern Florida State College’s Kerry Sweeney have been named the 2015 recipients of the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Barbasol. The Nicklaus Award recognizes the top players at the Division I, II, III, NAIA and NJCAA levels.
In addition to receiving a Nicklaus Award, the five recipients of the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award will compete for an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Barbasol Championship, held July 16-19, at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National in Opelika, Alabama. The competition will be held Saturday, June 6 at the storied Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio - the same club where Jack Nicklaus learned the game of golf as a young boy. The fivesome will tee off at 12:10 pm. Following the round, Tom Murray, President and CEO of Perio Inc, the parent company of Barbasol, will present the golfer with the lowest score an invitation to the Barbasol Championship.
Mr. Nicklaus and Mr. Murray will recognize the Nicklaus Award recipients the following day at 10 am during the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
“We are honored to sponsor the Jack Nicklaus Award and to offer the playoff winner an exemption into the Barbasol Championship.” said Mr. Murray. “To earn the exemption, regardless of Division, offers a unique and life changing opportunity to play in a PGA TOUR event.”
McNealy, the Division I Nicklaus Award recipient, will also receive an exemption to the following year’s Memorial Tournament.
Division I: A sophomore from Portola Valley, Calif., McNealy led NCAA Division I with six collegiate victories this year. He posted a dominant 10-stroke win at the Pac-12 Conference Championships, where his 18-under aggregate score of 262 established a new league tournament scoring record. The Pac-12 Conference Player owns a 69.05 season scoring average, the second best in recorded NCAA history. McNealy claimed medalist honors at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, Southwestern Intercollegiate, Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational, The Prestige at PGA West and The Goodwin. McNealy was selected to compete this summer on the United States Palmer Cup team.
Division II: A junior from Armenia, Colombia, Gomez finished the season as the No. 1-ranked golfer in Division II. He earned First-Team PING All-American honors and was named Sunshine State Conference Men’s Golfer of the Year, as well as First Team All-Sunshine State. Gomez placed no worse than eighth place in 12 events on the season and tallied 11 top-five finishes. His birdie putt on the final hole of match play at the national championships earned the clinching point, giving Nova Southeastern a 3-2 win and the NCAA Championship. In total, Gomez was 3-0 in match play at the NCAA Championships.
Division III: A native of Tampa, Fla., Maccaglia was named a Division III PING First-Team All-America selection for a fourth consecutive year. He earned his second successive Southern Athletic Association Men’s Golfer of the Year Award and was named first-team all-conference for the fourth straight year. Maccaglia finished first four times this year and recorded six additional top three finishes. He only posted one finish outside the top three in 11 events. Maccaglia also excelled in the classroom. He was the recipient of the Southern Athletic Association Man of the Year Award and was a finalist for the Byron Nelson Award presented by Cleveland Golf/Srixon.
NAIA: A sophomore from Westfield, N.J., Elliott has won three events on the season, including closing the year with back-to-back victories at the Southern States Athletic Association Championships and the NAIA National Championships. Elliott’s NAIA Championships four-round total of 272 broke the 60-year old scoring mark set by Ray Ferguson of North Texas State in 1955. Elliott was previously named PING First-Team All-America and first team all-conference. He posted an NAIA season best scoring average of 70.67 during his sophomore campaign.
NJCAA: Hailing from Melbourne, Fla., Sweeney earlier this spring was awarded PING First-Team All-America honors. He also won the NJCAA Division I Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award presented by the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation. Sweeney captured three straight individual titles this spring and tied for runner-up at the NJCAA Division I Championships. He posted seven total top-five finishes and placed outside the top-10 only twice in 10 events.
Since 1988, the award for the GCAA Collegiate Players of the Year have been named after Jack Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champion and GCAA All-American at The Ohio State University. Winners of the Nicklaus Award include Tiger Woods (1996), Phil Mickelson (1990-92), David Duval (1993), Justin Leonard (1994), Stewart Cink (1995), Luke Donald (1999), Hunter Mahan (2003), Bill Haas (2004), Ryan Moore (2005) and Justin Thomas (2012) among many others. Award recipients have combined for over 200 victories worldwide and claimed 22 major championships
About Barbasol:Barbasol, America’s #1 Men’s Shaving Cream brand, was introduced as the first “brushless” tube of shaving cream in 1919. Currently offered in 7 varieties, Original, Soothing Aloe, Pacific Rush, Sensitive Skin, Skin Conditioner, Arctic Chill and Mountain Blast, Barbasol continues to be made in America and is available at major retailers nationwide. Barbasol is owned by Dublin, Ohio based Perio Inc. For more information about Barbasol, please visit barbasol.com.

Junior is first recipient in Arizona State history and inaugural European honoree
FORT WORTH, Texas (May 18, 2015) – Arizona State junior Jon Rahm was named the 2015 winner of The Ben Hogan Award Monday night in a joint announcement by Colonial Country Club, Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) at the annual award’s banquet.
The first honoree in school history, Rahm is the fourth straight winner from the Pac-12 Conference, following UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay (2012), Washington’s Chris Williams (2013) and Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers (2014). He is the first recipient not born in North America and just the second foreign-born player ever, joining Canadian Nick Taylor (2010).
The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the 12-month period dating from the previous award’s banquet.
Rahm, a native of Barrika, Spain, is the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings as well as the Scratch Players World Rankings. Meanwhile, he is listed second in both the Golfstat Rankings and Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. He is the only player in the world listed among the top five in each of the four ranking systems.
He has won four college tournaments in 2014-15, capped by a two-shot victory at the NCAA San Diego Regional this past weekend. He also won the Duck Invitational, ASU Thunderbird and Bill Cullum Invite. The junior has 10 consecutive top-8 finishes at college events and owns a68.78 stroke average. His average is the second-best in recorded NCAA history, behind only fellow finalist Maverick McNealy of Stanford (68.70).
In February, Rahm tied for fifth at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, becoming the first amateur to place in the top five at a PGA TOUR event since 2008. He finished the event with a 12-under-par 272.
This summer, Rahm will compete on the European Palmer Cup roster for the second straight year. He helped lead his side to victory in 2014 with a team-best 3.5-point performance. In addition, he won the 2014 Eisenhower Trophy given to the medalist of the World Team Amateur and broke Jack Nicklaus’ scoring record by six shots. Last summer, he also won the Spanish Amateur Championship and reached the U.S. Amateur’s round of 16.
Tournament chairman Bobby Patton presented Rahm with an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s 2016 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. In addition, Arizona State earned a $25,000 grant for its men’s golf scholarship program. Rodgers was on hand to award the trophy to his successor.
The other finalists, McNealy and Washington’s Cheng-Tsung Pan, each earned their respective schools $12,500 grants. All three finalists were present for the announcement, which was made at a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club.
In all, a record $64,000 in grants will be distributed. Additionally, for the first time, the other seven semifinalists’ schools will receive grants of $2,000 each. The remaining semifinalists were: Gavin Green (New Mexico), Beau Hossler (Texas), Kyle Jones (Baylor), Lee McCoy (Georgia), Robby Shelton (Alabama), Ollie Schniederjans (Georgia Tech) and Hunter Stewart (Vanderbilt).
The Ben Hogan Award selection committee is made up of 25 leaders and experts in amateur, college and professional golf. In order to determine the winner, each committee member cast a ballot that ranked the finalists first, second and third.
The award, which was founded by FOG in 1990 and included academic achievement in its original list of standards, revised its criteria for the 2001-02 collegiate season to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur collegiate golfer. FOG teamed with members of Colonial Country Club and moved the award presentation to the course known as “Hogan’s Alley.”
Since that time, the winners have included: D.J. Trahan (Clemson, 2002), Ricky Barnes (Arizona, 2003), Hunter Mahan (Oklahoma State, 2003), Bill Haas (Wake Forest, 2004), Ryan Moore (UNLV, 2005), Matt Every (Florida, 2006), Chris Kirk (Georgia, 2007), Rickie Fowler (Oklahoma State, 2008), Kyle Stanley (Clemson, 2009), Nick Taylor (Washington, 2010), Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State, 2011), Patrick Cantlay (UCLA, 2012), Chris Williams (Washington, 2013) and Patrick Rodgers (Stanford, 2014).
For information on The Ben Hogan Award, visit www.TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter.